


Chin Up

by LynMars79



Series: That Damn Rogue [2]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Backstory, Gen, Headcanon, Pre-Canon, Sharlayan, Tumblr, prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-03-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:08:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23355184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LynMars79/pseuds/LynMars79
Summary: Young Thancred couldn't have always had an easy time in the City of Scholars. Someone who knows what he's going through gives him a pep talk.
Relationships: Yda Hext & Thancred Waters
Series: That Damn Rogue [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1632085
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24





	Chin Up

**Author's Note:**

> A short prompt response. I just have a lot of feelings about the non-native Sharlayans who became Archons. Another sorta-kinda sequel to "Rogue's Prelude."

Thancred leaned back against the trunk of the tree whose branches he was currently taking some measure of refuge in. The pines rustled around him, a cool wind coming off the mountains. Closing his eyes, he could almost imagine it the sound of ocean waves.

Then he would get a strong scent of evergreen and be suddenly reminded he was a long, long way from Limsa Lominsa.

Thancred sighed. It wasn’t that he disliked Sharlayan–and he _definitely_ didn’t want to go back to the docks–but some days it was hard to not think he had made a mistake in accepting Master Louisoix’s offer.

He had not imagined this kind of pressure. It made the Thieves’ training look like a fun afternoon’s game.

“There you are,” a familiar voice said from below.

Thancred looked down between the branches. He hadn’t really been trying to hide–if so, he wouldn’t have been found, most of these mages were not terribly perceptive–but if anyone was going to find him, it would be Yda. Her mask was sitting on her usual turban, showing her whole face and those bright blue eyes, watching him currently with concern, hands on her hips.

He gave her a wave, but didn’t move from his lounging spot. “Hullo, Yda. Where’s the tagalong?”

Yda shook her head. “Lyse is in class right now. Which is where _you_ ought to be. Master Jossard is quite cross.”

Thancred shrugged. “He’s been cross since the day we met. I don’t think he likes me.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t have so… _successfully_ flirted with his daughter.”

“How was I supposed to know who she was? I had just arrived! Besides, that was a yea–two years ago, now. She’s moved on, so should he.” Gods, had he really been here that long already? Some days it felt like no time had passed since stepping onto that ship.

Other days it felt like centuries had gone by while he perpetually drowned in academic snobbery.

Yda laughed, moving to lean on the tree trunk below, a little to the side. “Anyroad, he’s tough on everyone. It’s his job, y’know.”

“Is it his job to call me a degenerate wharf rat every time he works with me?”

That made her frown. “Have you spoken to Master Louisoix–”

“I don’t wanna bother ‘im,” Thancred said quickly, wincing at his own voice. When he wasn’t careful, he could still sound all too Limsan. Something many native Sharlayans didn’t let him forget.

“Thancred, Master Louisoix is your patron. He brought you here for a reason. And I know he wouldn’t think it a ‘bother’.”

He scowled. “I can figure this out on my own.”

“Yes, hiding in a tree a malm from town is certain to do that.”

“I am not hiding,” he huffed. “I’m thinking. Relaxing. It’s a lovely day, you know.”

“It is lovely. And my point, by the way, is that maybe you _can_ figure it out yourself. But you don’t _have_ to.” She looked up and smiled. “You do have friends here, people who can help. Like Master Louisoix. Papalymo, Y’shtola–and me. We’re here for you–but you have to let us.”

He looked away. It just couldn’t be that simple.

Could it?

“You can’t exactly help me through my tests,” he replied.

“Not directly, but there are things we know and can pass on to you, to make dealing with jerks like Master Jossard easier.” Now it was Yda’s turn to look away, her gaze turning to the gleaming city itself. “I know what it’s like, to be considered some foreign castoff, not worth the time to spend teaching.”

He winced. He had been so wrapped up in his own troubles, he had somehow forgotten Yda was also an immigrant–she made it seem so easy, like she actually belonged here.

She looked up at him again, her smile a little sadder. “I’ve had to deal with a lot of nonsense from some of my instructors, too–but I know Papalymo has my back. So does Master Louisoix. Even Master Matoya can be a fierce ally. And they’re actual, good teachers; they want us to succeed.”

“I’m not so sure Master Jossard does,” Thancred said, even as he mulled over Yda’s words.

“Maybe not. But I don’t think that’s so much about you, or me, in any case.”

“How d’you figure?”

“They expect us to be bad students, less academically inclined–we’re not native Sharlayans, after all, bred and raised to breathe book dust, fingers stained in ink all the time. But our patron? The one who brought us here, found us teachers, fights them for us? That’s a whole other story, isn’t it?”

That many were biased against Thancred had been obvious the moment he had stepped off the ship. That it might be more about Louisoix’s choices, than anything Thancred himself did or even was, had not been something he had ever considered before.

“Huh. Just one more thing to worry about then, letting the geezer down.”

“Honestly, so long as we do our best? I’m not sure that’s possible.” She pushed off the tree, a wicked grin lighting up her features. “As for those others? They’d kill to see you fail. So chin up, kid, and never let them see you sweat. Show them you’re better than they are, and that’s why he brought you here.”

He couldn’t help but grin back; that Hext smile was dangerously infectious. “All right, Yda; you win for now.” Thancred hopped down from his branch. “If…if you do have any tips for handling Master Jossard…”

She reached out and patted his back as they began to walk. “We can brainstorm a few things; we have plenty of time on our way back to the city.”


End file.
